


a friend in the darkness

by rarmaster



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 10:52:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11355975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarmaster/pseuds/rarmaster
Summary: Aqua's relieved to see her friend, but perhaps not as relieved as he is to see her.(The original "Mickey finds Aqua" scene was 0/10, not enough hugs. So here it is revamped with hugs and an extra helping of feels.)





	a friend in the darkness

Something was demanding her attention. A tugging on her arm, a voice calling at her—though the voice was distorted, as if she was underwater. Was she underwater? It was hard to describe the sensation that cradled her, but; when her senses became a little sharper as her brain snapped to wakefulness, she recognized the thing cradling her as darkness.

That made her uneasy, but sleep tugged at her mind again, voices whispering comforting things around her.

Every voice but one.

“Aqua!” it called, still distorted. “…qua, please! Can you— Are you—!?”

There was a tugging on her arm. A familiar shape pressed into her hand with some force, but recognizing it as her wayfinder, she tightened her grasp on it immediately. There was something else, too. Something warm, and solid, and…

With some effort, she tore her mind away from sleep and forced her eyes open.

“Aqua!” came the surprised and joyful shout, no longer distorted.

Her eyes met Mickey’s face.

“Oh thank goodness!” he said. “You weren’t respondin’, and I was really worried about you—” He broke off, then sent a concerned smile at her. “Are… are you okay?”

“I…” Aqua began, but didn’t have the words.

Mickey tugged at her again. There was a blur, and then their feet touched down on solid ground, and Mickey let go of her hand. He stood there, peering worriedly up at her. Was this… really him?

“Mickey… How—?” But she wasn’t sure how to finish, not entirely convinced he was even here.

There was a sound in the distance. A familiar, angry presence came into the edge of Aqua’s senses, rapidly approaching. She turned before Mickey did, Master Keeper already coming to her hand. To see this mountain of dark creatures again was unsurprising, though annoying.

(Sleep tugged at her mind again. She was so tired—No. No, it wasn’t safe here, it wasn’t safe at all, how had she let herself…!?)

“Heartless!” Mickey gasped, and summoned his own Keyblade. The spark of magic in the air as it came to him was so familiar, so tangible, something in Aqua’s chest ached.

They both ran at the—Heartless? Heartless, Mickey had said, so that’s probably it was called. But was _it,_ the entire thing, the Heartless, or were all the little creatures making it up…? It didn’t matter.

The battle went… different, than Aqua was used to.

Moving between one form and the next, casting one spell after another; usually, Aqua found the motions second-nature, moving between them fluidly. But she kept tripping up. Of all things— _Mickey_ kept tripping her up.

He’d shout or cry out in pain and Aqua would startle, surprised to hear a voice besides her own.

She’d see a spell of his shoot through the air and she’d jolt, turning and expecting another enemy but… It was just Mickey. But by the time she’d realized that, her brain had stalled long enough that whatever spell she was in the middle of had flickered out and she’d have to start over.

And then—she’d gotten hit and tossed back. She was already reflexively gathering her energy for a Curaga as she recovered, but… A Curaga was already flooding her veins, and the sensation startled her so greatly she staggered and fumbled her recovery, dropping to her knees for a second. It was only Mickey’s worried “ _Are you okay?_ ” called at her that kept her grounded in reality.

He was real.

He was here.

The lingering aftertaste of his magic in the air, on her skin—it was real. Unbearably, amazingly real.

And she could feel it, now; the presence of his heart pressed against her senses. A strong, bright light painted at the edges with soft, gentle shadows. Those shadows weren’t as soft as she remembered them being, though. Perhaps it was just the Realm of Darkness, strengthening the things of its kind. (She could only imagine how strong the shadows in her own heart had become, after so long here.)

Nevertheless—Mickey’s heart was _real,_ and the feel of it made Aqua want to weep.

It was only because Mickey was here that the battle was over so quick, Aqua was sure. She was too distracted to have fought even remotely cleanly.

She dismissed her Keyblade, and then immediately regretted it, because something suddenly slammed into her side. Caught off-guard, and already off-balance, the force knocked her to the ground. Panicked, she fumbled for a spell (Megaflare would do,) and—

It was Mickey, she realized.

It was Mickey, clinging to her, trembling. Aqua hastily canceled her magic, embarrassed (though it was _his_ fault). Mickey squeezed her a little tighter.

“I’m so so _so_ glad I found you,” he said, voice catching with emotion. “You left with Ven and then you never came back and- and Yen Sid didn’t know where you were and I looked everywhere for you, but I couldn’t find you, and- I thought- I thought—” He broke off, and then laughed (this too, choked with emotion), pulling a little away from her. “Of all places to find you…” He whispered, concern burning in his eyes as he studied her face.

Aqua let out a shaky breath, relief thudding in her chest.

The sensation, the warmth of another’s touch—something she didn’t realize she’d been aching for so badly until now—that was a relief.

But more than that, was his words, his promise that he’d been worried about her, looking for her…

 _“No one can save you,”_ she could handle. But “ _no one wants to”_ was too terrible too bear.

And to know it wasn’t true…

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she shifted to press a hand to her face, trying to stop them.

Mickey pulled away from her completely, laughing as he settled on his knees in front of her, still close enough to touch. “Gosh,” he said. He was crying too. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Aqua said, and found the sound coming out as something of a laugh, too. “I’m just… I’m really glad you’re here. I thought- I thought no one was going to…”

“Gosh…” Mickey said again. He placed his hand over her hand—the one that was still bracing her weight against the ground. “If- If I’d known you were here, Aqua, I would’ve come so much sooner!”

“That’s okay,” Aqua assured him. “I’m just glad you came at all. How did you…?”

She trailed off, not sure what to ask. Had he come here specifically for her? And if so, how _had_ he found out…?

Mickey seemed to catch on to what she was thinking, and immediately looked a little guilty. “Oh,” he said. “I, uh, I came here looking for something else, actually. But I’m glad I found you instead! Now we can get you out of here—”

At this, Aqua sat up straight.

“You know a way out!?” she asked, leaning towards Mickey in her excitement.

Mickey wilted.

“Well, uh… no?” he admitted. He laughed nervously, scratching at his ear. “I was so busy figuring out how to get in, that I didn’t think much about the getting back out part…”

Aqua laughed.

“You haven’t changed a bit…” she whispered, a terrible fondness burning in her chest.

Mickey smiled sheepishly, and then coughed. “Well, we aren’t gonna find a way out just sittin’ here!” he said, hopping to his feet. “And, I still need to find that key I came here for—”

“Key?” Aqua asked, as she got to her own feet.

“I’ll explain on the way,” Mickey assured her, grabbing her by the hand and leading her forward. “Come on!”


End file.
